Time to end prayers in Scottish schools?

The Scottish Secular Society has put forward a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling on the Scottish Government to issue official guidance, similar to that put forward in England, to bar the presentation in Scottish publicly funded schools of separate creation and of Young Earth doctrines as viable alternatives to the established science of evolution, common descent, and deep time.

While there has been the case of a teacher in Scotland who took early retirement for espousing such doctrines to pupils I think that we can generally trust the training and professionalism of teachers in Scotland and the guidance of the curriculum to ensure that unscientific ideas of this sort are not propagated in teaching time.

The root of the problem is the access that religious groups have to pupils in schools. Unscientific ideas such as the divinity of Jesus Christ and the virginity of his mother are central to the religious observance that the law, supported by the Scottish Parliament,  requires in schools, and the official Scottish Government guidance which facilitates the access of religious groups to pupils in our state schools for religious observance.

Religious and moral education in which pupils learn about the different religions of the world should be taught in schools in an objective way but as long as religious observance (prayers) are required in our schools unscientific ideas will be propagated by religious ministers and evangelical groups who are allowed into our schools by current Scottish Government policy. Why single out one set of highly improbable religious doctrines when others are actively encouraged?

The Scottish Secular Society petition can be inspected at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/gettinginvolved/petitions/creationismguidance

Edinburgh Council reluctantly grants Christian organisation the right to parade

I sometimes wonder if publicly expressed hostility to the Orange Order is one of the few remaining prejudices which are tolerated in contemporary Scottish society. Certainly at the public hearing of the City of Edinburgh Council Licensing sub-committee on Tuesday 22 July several of the elected councillors on the committee made known their resentment and antagonism towards the Order as it sought to gain approval for its right to march in the city on 13 September, five days before the independence referendum. It was arrogant of the SNP committee convenor of the committee, Gavin Barrie, to state that the Order had nothing to contribute to the referendum debate. It is not for our elected representatives to decide who has valid contributions to make to the debate. It is up to the people to decide what they want to say and how to express their views within the law. The councillors’ role was to see that the law was applied and following police and legal advice they accepted the right of the Order to stage the parade, although a Labour and a Conservative councillor opposed the motion. I was puzzled as to how the Conservative, Councillor Dominic Heslop, stated that he found the comments by the Orange Order representative, who was seeking the right of the Order to parade and express its views, to be ‘imflammatory’. Whether Scotland votes for independence or not it will always be a challenge to ensure that Christian religious organisations like the Orange Order, and other minority groups, have their rights protected when much public opinion is opposed to them.
Letter in the Scotsman 25 July 2014

Scottish Government puts off the day of the first gay weddings in Scotland until after the independence referendum

Amid discussion of current concerns about the laws in relation to homosexuality in Commonwealth countries in the context of the Commonwealth Games it is worth noting that earlier this year the Scottish Government secured the passage through the Scottish Parliament of legislation enabling same sex marriages in Scotland. However, it has also managed to defer the first actual gay weddings in Scotland until after the independence referendum on 18 September. Could this be because it does not want to remind that substantial sector of electors, particularly religious denominations opposed to the legislation, of its role in this respect before the day of the vital ballot? 

Letter in the Scotsman 23 July 2014

Rights of Christians to parade in Edinburgh should be protected

According to the Scotsman (18 July) some members of Edinburgh City Council are considering, against police advice, banning the planned Orange Order march in the city on 13 September, five days ahead of the 18 September independence referendum. Such a step would be a gross infringement of the rights of free expression of this group of Christians. They have traditionally marched peacefully in the city in the past to express their beliefs and loyalties. Restriction of this right of free expression would be damaging to the reputation the City of Edinburgh. Nor would it project a favourable image of Scotland to the world. Lawful free expression of views is vital to democracy in Scotland especially on the eve of the most important voting decision that most of us will ever be called to make.

Letter in the Scotsman 19 July 2014

Questions about the Scottish Government Funded Faith and Belief Study

The Scottish Government Funded Faith and Belief study has recently reported in the Scotsman (10 July) and on its website.

There are a number of questionable features of this study. Why was the funding granted to the Faculty of Divinity at Edinburgh University without, it appears, any competitive bidding as to who might conduct the study? Why was it awarded to a body that has a built in employment interests in attempting to justify the importance of religion in contemporary society? Why did the study not survey the existing literature and utlise the findings of numerous social surveys that give other estimates of the religious beliefs and practices of the Scottish population? Why did it use such an ad hoc  methodology when the methods of social survey research would have given a far more accurate picture than the methods adopted by the study. Why were Roman Catholics at 7 per cent so under-represented in the sample when the 2001 and 2011 censuses showed that they were 16 per cent of the population? The Church of Scotland was similarly under-rerpresented at 17 per cent compared to the census figure of 32 per cent. The sample also greatly over-represents the populations of Glasgow and Edinburgh which, combined, are about one fifth of the Scottish population whereas just over one in three of the sample come from these two cities. There are thus good reasons to have fundamental doubts about the quality of the findings of this study.

The report in the Scotsman suggests that there were religious and political aspects to the research. Study director Prof Siddique is quoted as saying 'action needed to be taken to make Scottish society less divisive. She added 'The issues around religion in public life are creat¬ing a new tension and dynamic in Scotland, and it is important that we minimise unnecessary division for the sake of a more inclusive Scotland." Prof Siddiqui said action needed to be taken to make Scottish society less divisive.She added 'The issues around religion in public life are creating a new tension and dynamic in Scotland, and it is important that we minimise unnecessary division for the sake of a more inclusive Scotland."  

But what is wrong about democratic debate about the extent to which religious denominations should have privileged positions in Scottish society? Prof Siddique's remarks sound suspiciously like an attempt to close down public debate in favour of continuing the status quo. Division, contention, debate are essential features of democratic debate. A cosy consensus can be the death of diversity and free expression.

The Faith and Belief in Scotland website can be found at http://www.faithandbeliefscotland.co.uk/
Other sources of evidence on religious belief and 'spirituality' can be found in earlier posts on this website.